why not make it real easy and have the R and BJ switch after every punt....this way neither official has to make a long run to the other end of the field....we can re-invent the old Sherlock Holmes cap with a white bill on one side and the black bill on the other so all the officials have to do is turn the cap around

How about musical positions. Rotate clockwise after every home team band song and and end to end/side to side after every visitor song. But to add a special twist, the head coach and R switch after every UNC.

For high school, itís the dumbest thing Iíve ever heard. Many HS officials have a hard enough time mastering keys for one position. Now we want to ask them to master mechanics for another to be used in the same game? 👎👎👎

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"Gentlemen, we are going to relentlessly chase perfection, knowing full well we will not catch it, because nothing is perfect. But we are going to relentlessly chase it, because in the process we will catch excellence. I am not remotely interested in just being good." - Vince Lombardi

For high school, itís the dumbest thing Iíve ever heard. Many HS officials have a hard enough time mastering keys for one position. Now we want to ask them to master mechanics for another to be used in the same game?

From what I understand, NCAA passed this by a strong coach support as coaches have a strong majority on their rules committee. The same isn't true on the NFHS committee.

Having the side officials switch sides at half time may be dumb, but surely it's not the dumbest ever!

Do you remember the infamous 2009 "hash marks bisect the yard lines" flap? How about the 2014(?) rule saying that the kicking team had to have at least 4 players on either side of the kicker on a free kick "from the RFP"?

If this is such a big important thing that the coaches need to see a different wing guy each half then the solution is simple.Follow the Ralph Damren solution and simply have: The teams trade sides at halftime!

We all keep all our mechanics the same, and the coach gets to yell at both wings! Its a win-win!

Ralph, Need your help! You will need to enhance this post a little by explaining to the guys the proper procedure for the fans swapping sides during halftime crowning of the Prom Queen!

I think this procedure needs an experimental state to test it out. How about Maine???

Having the side officials switch sides at half time may be dumb, but surely it's not the dumbest ever!

Do you remember the infamous 2009 "hash marks bisect the yard lines" flap? How about the 2014(?) rule saying that the kicking team had to have at least 4 players on either side of the kicker on a free kick "from the RFP"?

Top 3. 😂

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"Gentlemen, we are going to relentlessly chase perfection, knowing full well we will not catch it, because nothing is perfect. But we are going to relentlessly chase it, because in the process we will catch excellence. I am not remotely interested in just being good." - Vince Lombardi

We have done this for the last two years in Arizona. Personally I HATE IT.

The first year they said we were doing it because the coaches asked for it. Now grant it, I only had a small sample, but none of the coaches I talked to asked for it. And on top of switching the H and L, we also switched the chains, so the mechanic wouldn't change. Believe me the coaches absolutely hated that having the chains moved because of the film being from only one side of the field.

So this year we do not switch the chains and we don't switch the mechanics, except for a few minor modification, which leave the chains unattended during punts (I know hard to believe).

I have heard through the grapevine (so not official), that we will continue to switch sides next season, but you will work H mechanics when you are with the chains and L mechanics when not. So you will have to learn two different mechanics. I know any official should be able to do this, but typically younger officials are L so they are not necessarily seasoned and this will just add to the learning curve.

Other than the higher ups in our organization and the AIA, I have not met any official who agrees with this decision. Many of us have expressed to the powers that be are great displeasure with this, both the first year and the second year of this experiment, but it seems to have fallen on deaf ears.

Personally I think it sends the wrong message. Supposedly the coaches wanted this because they didn't think they were getting even treatment from the officials. So by agreeing to switch at halftime you are telling the coaches, You are right you weren't being treated equally so we are fixing it.

I start as the L then at half switch to the LJ.No big deal for the past 3 seasons. The coverages are about the same, except for the kicking game.I heard Iowa almost did it this past season. I hope it happens with Fed.

I also have NO DOUBT that coaches influence calls to their advantage.Is there any research on what team the wing official flags the most?I would certainly like to see it if there is and I would be surprised if it were not the team across the field from the wings.

Having to deal with both sidelines has become part of the game, usually in a positive way. Sometimes not.

Embrace it, don't fear it.

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"Because you can referee wrong, make a mistake, but what you can not do is create your own sense of justice and, even worse, invent a very personal application of the rules." Dutch legend (soccer coach) Johan Cruyff

why not make it real easy and have the R and BJ switch after every punt....this way neither official has to make a long run to the other end of the field....we can re-invent the old Sherlock Holmes cap with a white bill on one side and the black bill on the other so all the officials have to do is turn the cap around

Many years ago back when colleges had JV teams, my father was on the ACC JV Officials Roster. He and two officials had a Friday afternoon JV game at Duke. They made arrangement with their HS Booking Agent to assign them in Greensboro for their HS game. My father was the R and the other 2 were U and BJ. Both teams were "airing it out" in the first quarter and the assigned BJ talked the U into switching in the second quarter. Midway thru the second quarter the original U wanted to switch back. Being that both teams were still "airing it out", the original BJ would not switch back.

My father remedied the situation for the second half. When the teams were moving left to right, he would be the R and his partner would be the BJ. After a COP and the teams moved right to left, my father would be the BJ and his partner would be the R. They worked the rest of the game switching between R & BJ. True story.

Still looking for a logical, practical or even rational reason for doing so.

I would like to submit a reason, which is neither logical, practical or even rational, but nevertheless may be closer to the truth than we would like to admit: The NFL went to wide stripes, we (for the most part) went to wide stripes; NFL went to black pants with a white stripe, we went to black pants with a white stripe; NFL switches positions at half time, we ............. (fill in the blank).

Illinois experimented with this during the 2017 season, supposedly at the request of the coaches. HL and LJ switched at the half, the chains stayed on the visitor's sideline, so you worked the mechanic based on which sideline you were on.

A survey was sent by the IHSA to the crew chiefs mid-season asking a series of questions about how the change affected officiating. The response was significantly on the side of "didn't help us, may have hurt our ability to officiate the game" so effective starting week 8 of the 9-game regular season crews were allowed to stay in the same wing positions the entire game. Which everyone immediately did! No one expects the experiment to be repeated next season.

My experience as a LJ was that it was no big deal and easy to adapt. I just hate working the chains so I was glad I only had to do it for 7 games!

I consider my position on the Rules Committee as representing both my state and that of officials. If a proposed rule improves either the safety or fairness of the game, I support it knowing that it'll require new training and mechanics of officials.

IMHO, both flip-flopping wings and adding the 40 second play clock will add a lot of busy work for officials ,not to mention confusion and consistency ,with very little improvement to our game.

While I'll be an opponent to either, should they pass, I would support adding them to rule 1-7 (the "state's right rule).

I would like to submit a reason, which is neither logical, practical or even rational, but nevertheless may be closer to the truth than we would like to admit: The NFL went to wide stripes, we (for the most part) went to wide stripes; NFL went to black pants with a white stripe, we went to black pants with a white stripe; NFL switches positions at half time, we ............. (fill in the blank).

Ah, while the basis of your theory is generally valid, you have the pants issue incorrect. The NCAA went to black pants with white stripes for "cold weather" (only) in 2010, then full time in 2011. The NFL did not change to black pants until sometime after that - perhaps as early as 2012. I recall thinking, "This is the first time the NFL officials have followed the NCAA officials in anything."

But, yes, generally speaking, ideas and concepts tend to flow from the NFL to the NCAA to HS. There is a reason for that. The NFL is constantly evaluating and trying new ideas to improve officiating. The NCAA does this, but to a far lesser degree.

The NFL went to 2" stripes many decades ago (probably over 40 years), when they started to get so much TV exposure. The 1" stripes were hard to see on the TVs of the time, and probably created moire patterns, too. Took a long time, but the NCAA made the change for the same reason. The 2" stripes look better on TV.

There is a reason the NFL switch sides at halftime, and I believe it was done to give the sideline officials 'equal' exposure to the teams. The NFL has no issue with seeing the chains, etc. The Power 5 conferences probably don't really have an issue with seeing the chains either, but the NCAA includes all of FBS, FCS, D2, D3, JCs, etc., for some of which it may be a problem.